News Corporation (NWSA)

Shares of News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) move up 3.6% premarket after the company sees strong revenue gains from television affiliates and cable channels lift its bottom line for FQ3. The broad organic growth from the media giant caught most analysts by surprise.

Marissa Mayer (YHOO) held a preliminary talk with Hulu (DIS, CMCSA, NWS) execs about a bid for the video site, "numerous sources" tell Kara Swisher. Amazon (AMZN), Guggenheim Partners, and ex-News Corp. COO Peter Chermin (previous) are also said to be weighing bids. Yahoo was one of the companies offering to buy Hulu back in 2011, and with the French government having thwarted its Dailymotion bid, Hulu and its 4M+ premium subs might not be a bad backup plan. But much likely depends on the content rights Hulu's risk-averse old media owners are willing to give.

The major broadcast networks aren't giving up the summer months to cable rivals (and Netflix?) this year and plan to keep a fresh slate of programming in front of viewers. Leading the charge is CBS (CBS+0.8%) with the Stephen King-inspired Under the Dome scheduled to debut in June. What to watch: With new programs come higher development and marketing costs. How much will Comcast (CMCSA+1.3%), News Corp (NWSA+1.3%), and Disney (DIS+0.7%) invest in the summer ventures of their broadcast TV properties and will it be enough?

News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) shareholders will vote on June 11 on whether or not to approve a plan to split the existing conglomerate into a publishing and entertainment company. Though he is an U.S. citizen, Rupert Murdoch has agreed not to vote on the proposal with his 39.4% stake in the company sitting in his back pocket. (SEC 14A).

Barry Diller had some intriguing comments on upstart Aereo during a Bloomberg TV interview: 1) If the legal battles go Aereo's way, Diller sees a radical revolution where consumers have one wire into their house. Think cord-cutting on steroids - potentially good for Netflix (NFLX-0.1%) but clearly bad for broadcasters (CBS, CMCSA, DIS, AMCX). 2) Aereo could be profitable at 10M-20M subscribers. 3) What about media heavyweights such as News Corp (NWS, NWSA) threatening the nuclear option of going to cable? Diller thinks it's a grab for fees that won't play well for consumers. (video)

News Corp (NWS, NWSA) CEO Rupert Murdoch will make about 15% more in compensation after the company splits in two, according to a SEC filing (8-K). With the exec's new $28.3M salary all lined up, the next big thing to watch is how aggressive the new publishing company will be in bidding for newspaper properties from Tribune Co. and if the entertainment company can create new synergies.

The buzz from Madison Avenue is that upfront pricing for TV ads will show their slowest gain since the economic downturn this year. Last year, broadcasters ABC (DIS), CBS (CBS), NBC (CMCSA) and Fox (NWS, NWSA) were able to realize ad rate increases of 5% to 9% - but a ratings slump and the emergence of online video alternatives is taking a bigger bite from demand in 2013.

News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) says it reached a $139M settlement with shareholders over the actions of the board of directors in relation to the much-publicized phone hacking scandal and acquisition of Shine Group.

Rentrak reports cable subscribers spend 40% more time watching free VOD content than they did a year ago. The development has big implications on ad dollars with media companies (CBS, CMCSA, NWS, NWSA, DIS) battling with advertisers on how to count viewers.

Aereo took out a full page ad in The New York Times to pitch its case to the public that its large media companies are ganging up on it. Fox (NWS, NWSA), NBC (CMCSA-2%), ABC (DIS-0.3%), and CBS (CBS-1.6%) are united in their stance that the startup's retransmission of content violates copyright law, but an initial court ruling has gone against them. (Previous: Broadcasters consider the nuclear option)

Channeling Jim Morrison? News Corp, (NWS, NWSA) changes the name of the planned spinoff of its media/entertainment unit from Fox Group to 21st Century Fox. Murdoch: "21st Century Fox is a name that draws upon the rich creative heritage of our film studio." (PR)

The EU has approved Liberty Global's (LBTYA) $15.8B acquisition of Virgin Media (VMED), saying it doesn't have any competition concerns as the companies operate pay-TV networks in different European countries. The deal will pit Liberty against News Corp (NWS) satellite-TV affiliate BSkyB (BSYBY.PK), or John Malone against Rupert Murdoch. (PR)

News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) is in talks to buy Big Talk Productions in the U.K. through its Shine Group unit. The acquisition would be Shine's first major move in the region since News Corp. purchased it over two years ago.